Fibre to the premises - overhead?

Contractors working on behalf of BT are installing Fibre to the telephone poles. They tell me we will soon be able to have our overhead copper lines replaced with fibre all the way to router - if I have a BT phone line which I have.

So, does that mean I will be able to move my Zen FTTC Fibre 1 to FTTP?

And if the answer to that is yes, what options will I have for my existing BT telephone number?

Yes, but how depends partly on whether or not the contractors know what they are talking about. For a start, the fibre never goes direct to your router. It goes to a wall-mounted Optical Network Terminator (that requires a power supply). Your router connects to that by ethernet, just like it can to a modem.

The fibre cabling can include a copper pair to replace the old one. If it does, and the FTTP installers use it, AIUI the phone will plug straight into the ONT. If not you would need VOIP via the router.

If you mean your phone service is BT, not Zen, then the VOIP would presumably be BT's "Digital Voice", but again, AIUI that requires a BT router. You might find in that case that porting your number to some other VOIP service that can be accessed through your existing router.

In reply to a post by Sandgrounder:

Contractors working on behalf of BT are installing Fibre to the telephone poles. They tell me we will soon be able to have our overhead copper lines replaced with fibre all the way to router - if I have a BT phone line which I have.

So, does that mean I will be able to move my Zen FTTC Fibre 1 to FTTP?

And if the answer to that is yes, what options will I have for my existing BT telephone number?

So you have Zen FTTC. Well your voiced service is also from Zen. When you switch to FTTP with Zen as your provider you have a number of choices.

1) You can opt to have Zen to be your voice provider as well. The service might still be available from your master socket (for the time being) or perhaps from a socket on the ONT or even from a socket on the router that Zen supplies for the new service. Wherever the phone is plugged into, your existing phone hardware will still work.

2) You can opt NOT to have a phone service from Zen.

3) You can opt to migrate your landline number to VoIP to a 3rd party hosted supplier of your choice, like Voipfone, but to use your existing phone(s) you will need an ATA. Better to purchase a VoIP enabled phone. Check out the Gigaset VoIP wireless range of phones which are very good.

4) You can opt to migrate your landline number to Zen's VoIP offering.

Options 1-4 all mean an additional sum to be paid for the voice service.

What tends to happen is that option 2 is often selected using just a mobile phone to make and receive calls. However it is worth considering having a hosted VoIP service with a "soft phone" on your mobile. This will give you a regular 01/02 number on your mobile to be kind to callers. It will also mean that a cherished landline number remains available for use and preserved for whatever you may wish to do with the number in the future.

The statements made here do apply to Zen; they may not apply to a FTTP service provided by another ISP.

It is to be recommended a UPS unit is installed to feed the ONT, router and the base unit of the phone.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

So you have Zen FTTC. Well your voiced service is also from Zen.

Not true.

My voice service is, and has always been, from BT

Edited by Sandgrounder (Tue 25-May-21 10:54:06)

A subsiduary question ....

My attempts to find details so far, have come unstuck because FTTP is not actually available yet on my postcode

Where on the Zen website, can I read about FTTP, prices, etc?

Alternatively, can somebody give me a postcode where it is available; so I can get past the check

Edited by Sandgrounder (Tue 25-May-21 12:03:11)

In reply to a post by Sandgrounder:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

So you have Zen FTTC. Well your voiced service is also from Zen.

Not true.

My voice service is, and has always been, from BT

Please explain in detail how this is possible. You are suggesting that you get one bill from Zen for broadband FTTC service, where you are obliged to have a voice service as well, and another bill from BT for a separate landline service. Unless you actually want two voice services, it makes no sense to me.

In reply to a post by Sandgrounder:

A subsiduary question ....

My attempts to find details so far, have come unstuck because FTTP is not actually available yet on my postcode

Where on the Zen website, can I read about FTTP, prices, etc?

I am actually with Zen and asked for their pricing of FTTP over the phone, gladly given. The more you pay the greater your connection speed will be. What is nice is that their pricing never goes up on a yearly basis. However a Draytek needs to checked out for suitability of higher speeds.

I would still welcome a link (or a postcode), so I can read about it at my leisure.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Please explain in detail how this is possible. You are suggesting that you get one bill from Zen for broadband FTTC service, where you are obliged to have a voice service as well, and another bill from BT for a separate landline service. Unless you actually want two voice services, it makes no sense to me.

No need for detail. It is quite simple ..

My one and only landline telephone service has been with BT for many decades. Long before even dial-up Internet. (one bill from BT)

My Internet service has been with Zen for just a few decades. ADSL as soon as it was available. Updated to FTTC as soon as it was available. (one bill from Zen. and, NO, I have never been obliged to have a voice service as well)

Edited by Sandgrounder (Tue 25-May-21 12:23:28)

I doubt if they will differ at postcodes that can get FTTP. Try [removed, having served its purpose]. It works for me, with line rental not included. I know someone there with FTTP.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 25-May-21 13:35:40)

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Please explain in detail how this is possible. You are suggesting that you get one bill from Zen for broadband FTTC service, where you are obliged to have a voice service as well, and another bill from BT for a separate landline service. Unless you actually want two voice services, it makes no sense to me.

When I ordered broadband from Zen in June 2019 it wasn't obligatory to take their voice service.

Excellent. Thank you. Delete the postcode now if you want to.

I think I have all of the information I need at the moment, with one exception which I know you will have the answer. Is there any extra cost to keep my existing 8 IP addresses?

In reply to a post by IanBB:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Please explain in detail how this is possible. You are suggesting that you get one bill from Zen for broadband FTTC service, where you are obliged to have a voice service as well, and another bill from BT for a separate landline service. Unless you actually want two voice services, it makes no sense to me.

When I ordered broadband from Zen in June 2019 it wasn't obligatory to take their voice service.

Thank you for updating me on the current situation. I knew there was a move to de-couple the broadband and voice services, but I was complete unaware that it has been possible to do just that with Zen for at least a couple of years.

It doesn't put the end user in a straight jacket so much when chasing after the best offers in town. Unless you have already gone down the VoIP solution for your voice service, what do you see happening to your voice service with the great switch off of the copper network whenever that might be? Two broadband services perhaps?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

If you mean your phone service is BT, not Zen, then the VOIP would presumably be BT's "Digital Voice", but again, AIUI that requires a BT router. You might find in that case that porting your number to some other VOIP service that can be accessed through your existing router.

Am I correct in thinking that I could move my existing BT landline number to Zen's digital voice

And hence terminate my decades old BT service? I want to keep the landline number even though it is rarely used for outgoing calls.

Post deleted by RobertoS

Great.

Sorry, no. I've no idea about the IP block.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Thank you for updating me on the current situation. I knew there was a move to de-couple the broadband and voice services, but I was complete unaware that it has been possible to do just that with Zen for at least a couple of years.

It has always been possible to do that with Zen.

EDIT: In fact, if my memory servers me correct, originally with ADSL there was no other way.

Edited by Sandgrounder (Tue 25-May-21 13:59:06)

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

.... what do you see happening to your voice service with the great switch off of the copper network whenever that might be? Two broadband services perhaps?

As you will appreciate from my other posts in this topic, I intend that my copper voice service will be switched off long before the great switch off.

No. just the one - Zen.

I've been with Zen since March 2015 for FTTC and my line rental/voice service has always been with BT until February this year when I migrated my landline number to A&A (BT emailed me to say they were putting up the line rental by 90p/month... The A&A service only costs me £1.20/month)!

In December 2020 I migrated from FTTC to FTTP, staying with Zen. My login and /29 block of IP addresses stayed the same.

Thank you for that info. It all helps.

I do not think my service is G.Fast. I had it before G.Fast was available here.

Who said anything about G.Fast in this thread, perhaps you should have replied to Max.

Yikes!

That post now deleted. It was intended to be a reply to a different poster in a different forum! The only common factor being it's a forum on this site, not elsewhere.

[groan]

Exactly .

In reply to a post by Sandgrounder:

Am I correct in thinking that I could move my existing BT landline number to Zen's digital voice

Yes, Zen tell me they should have the capability to migrate existing numbers in the next week or so (I am waiting for mine to be migrated). But they are currently only doing this for new FTTP customers.

In reply to a post by Sandgrounder:

Am I correct in thinking that I could move my existing BT landline number to Zen's digital voice

And hence terminate my decades old BT service? I want to keep the landline number even though it is rarely used for outgoing calls.

"Digital Voice" is BT's name for their flavour of VOIP. Not used by any other provider as far as I know. (Edit - I was wrong, as per nettech's post.

I expect you could use any VOIP provider on Zen FTTP, just as you can your PSTN service.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 26-May-21 21:44:39)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

"Digital Voice" is BT's name for their flavour of VOIP. Not used by any other provider as far as I know.

https://www.zen.co.uk/phone/digital-voice

Oops!

Thanks. (Will delete that bit).